BFW Postseason Breakdown: Bayern Munich’s Most Valuable Player

There are a million different ways to define value with respect to a football team. Is the highest scorer? The best team player? The most formidable defender? The goalkeeper?

Beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder when it comes to value.

At Bayern Munich, there are a number of players whose value is immense. But who was the most valuable of them all? This is what our staffers came up with...

Chuck Smith

• Robert Lewandowski: A record-breaking season should be enough to earn the award, but his absence against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League truly showed how much value the Polish Hitman holds at Bayern Munich. On a team filled with stars, the brightest one was missing — and it showed. Without Lewandowski, Bayern Munich is still a great team. With Lewandowski, Bayern Munich are club world champions.

Photo by Stefan Matzke - sampics/Corbis via Getty Images

Ineednoname

• Thomas Müller: It might seem strange to choose anyone but Robert Lewandowski for the MVP slot, but we have to remember that this is supposed to be the most VALUABLE player, not the best one overall. With that criteria in mind, no one at Bayern Munich is more valuable than Thomas Müller. He’s the main provider on the team, second top-scorer, the on-field organizer for tactics and dictates the team’s pressing. His impact on the system is unmatched, which is why Hansi Flick considers him the right hand of the coach. Thomas Müller is clearly Bayern’s MVP.

Samrin

• Joshua Kimmich: This category is incredibly difficult to choose but it came down between Kimmich, Manuel Neuer and Thomas Müller for me. I thought about the player whose absence would lead to Bayern completely falling apart and that was Kimmich for me. Müller’s absence can be somewhat mitigated by Jamal Musiala; Neuer’s absence can be partially compensated for by a well-functioning defense (go ahead and laugh all you want); I didn’t mention Robert Lewandowski but a backup striker such as Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting can compensate to an extent. However, without Kimmich, the midfield completely dies. Leon Goretzka is excellent but his absence can be compensated for better than Kimmich’s. Just by a hair and to differ from Ineednoname’s opinion here, I am going to go with Bayern’s defensive midfield lynchpin for MVP.

Schnitzel01

• Robert Lewandowski: Bayern’s best player this season also happens to be my MVP. You take him out, Bayern’s attack falls down multiple notches. Yes, the team is still formidable, but we saw just what Bayern missed in the tie against PSG. You can generate as many chances as you’d like, but without the world’s best striker up front, you can’t ensure they end up in the back of the net. His absence was the difference between back to back UCL titles and a “mediocre” season that saw the team only win the Bundesliga.

Lewandowski came up clutch in every game he featured in, every single one. There isn’t anyone on the planet as consistent as he is. Without him, Bayern lacks the edge, that ‘X factor’ that so many teams would love to have. Barcelona had a prime Messi in 2015 take them to unimaginable heights, Ronaldo carried Real Madrid to three consecutive UCL wins, also the most success any one club has seen post 2000. Lewandowski is that guy for us now, and he’s showing no signs of stopping. How lucky we are to witness him play for the Bavarian red.

Photo by Stefan Matzke - sampics/Corbis via Getty Images

Fergus

• Thomas Müller: Müller is the only correct answer here. Easily Bayern’s most crucial player, his importance comes in a variety of forms. Firstly, his versatility: Müller is adept at playing the false 9, 10, 8 and either wing positions and frequently interchanges between these positions when on the pitch. Furthermore, his understanding with Lewandowski is a large part of the Pole’s excellence. I personally don’t think Lewandowski is nearly as good without Müller.

Another reason why Müller must be MVP is downright leadership and characteristics. The conductor of Bayern Munich’s wonderful symphony, Müller controls all aspects of the side’s play, from offensive movements to much of Bayern’s defending in the form of pressing. The gangly German runs around the pitch, screaming instructions, with the enthusiasm of an 19 year old on his debut, it’s simply sensational how he manages to still do it at his age.

Some may say, Kimmich, or Lewandowski are better footballers, and they very well could be right. However, for MVP, one must look at their impact on the team as a whole, and for this, no one has a larger one than Müller. Bayern’s heart and soul is the team’s most valuable weapon.

RuneKingThor

• Manuel Neuer: Bayern Munich over the ages has always been one of those teams in which it is difficult to single out an MVP. The past season too had several important players who delivered exceptional performances. Having said that, if one player had to be chosen as the most valuable and crucial then it is Captain Manuel Neuer. He was simply magical and priceless when it came to bailing out a mostly non existent defence time and again. Too often it was Munich’s star goalkeeper that pulled out miraculous saves to keep Bayern in the game and clinch important wins. Neuer’s clutch saves ensured Bayern didn’t lose momentum in the title race and that the Bundesliga didn’t have a new champion.

Teddy Son

• Manuel Neuer: This was a tough choice because the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Müller, and Joshua Kimmich was stellar this season. But Neuer takes the cake for me because of how invaluable he was in defense. Game after game he pulled off save after save, some easy, some a bit more challenging, and some just downright outrageous. It was down to Neuer’s heroics that Bayern’s back line could salvage what little dignity they had, and that Bayern could retain the Meisterschale at the end of the season. Plus, Neuer was the most reliable player of the squad, with others falling victim to illness, injuries, suspensions, etc. Neuer only missed four games the entire season, thrice in dead rubber games, and once against fifth-tier opposition. He fully deserves the captain’s armband, and Bayern are lucky to have the best goalkeeper in the world between the sticks.

Tell us what you think in the poll and in the comments below!